Bookworms Beware!
by Fegerrific
Summary: Famed detective-turned-author Beau Neville calls Mystery Incorporated down to his Louisiana home, where a sinister shadow is giving Beau a bad case of fright-er's block. As the gang explores Beau's mansion, they come across watchful portraits, secret passageways and one scary shadow!
1. Chapter 1

_Armed only with a flashlight, Detective Cam Clarke crept down the darkened hallway of an allegedly haunted manor. Behind him stumbled Thom McClain, his junior partner. "Dark down here, huh?" Thom joked, trying and failing to lighten the mood. _

_Cam nodded curtly, sweeping the beam of his flashlight along the dusty old furniture. "Nothing out of place here…" he murmured._

_Thom suddenly cried out in horror, causing Cam to wheel around to see what was wrong. "Sorry," Thom gasped. "Just my shadows..."_

_"Shadows?" Cam echoed. _

_Thom turned to the wall and counted two shadows on the wall. "Must be two different light sources somewhere…" He twisted his fingers into a crude imitation of a bunny and made it 'hop' along the wall. Suddenly, the bunny lengthened and grew into a grasping hand with sharp claws! _

"_NO!" Cam grunted, but it was too late. The detective could only watch in horror as his partner was devoured by his own shadow! The shadow-monster turned to Cam and asked, _"So where are we going this time?"

The spell broken, Velma looked up from her book to answer Shaggy's question."We're going to Louisiana to help Beau…uh, I mean, Detective Neville with a problem."

"Like, just writer's block, I hope?" Shaggy asked hopefully.

Velma shook her head. "Afraid not. You see, he thinks that one of the monsters from his books has come to life!"

"Zoinks!" Shaggy screeched, diving under a blanket in the backseat. Scooby followed suit; the blanket quivered as the dog-and-detective duo shook with fear. "Like, s-s-sorry I asked."

The Mystery Machine pulled up in front of a two-story house…although it was almost more appropriate to call it a mansion. A wide porch surrounded by wrought-iron railings ran around both stories of the mansion. Ivory columns stood as imposing sentinels, supporting a pointed pediment above the second-story porch. Hanging baskets, overflowing with flowers and vines, hung at various intervals from the porch railings.

"Hello, Mystery Incorporated!" came a voice from the second-story porch. Beau Neville, a tall dark-haired man, waved at them from his perch above. "I'll be right down!" He emptied his watering can over a basket of morning glories before vanishing out of sight. Moments later, he opened the massive front door and ushered the gang inside.

"Thanks for coming," Beau sighed as the oak door slammed shut with an echoing crash. "I'm about at my wit's end…"

"So what's been happing, Detective Neville?" asked Daphne, surveying the dim cobweb-bedecked chandelier.

"Ooh! Is it the _Lagarto dar Miedo, _the ancient lizard-god worshipped by the _Serpiente_ tribe of south Spain?" Velma interrupted, referencing the events of Beau's third book _The Reptile's Revenge_. "Or perhaps the Zanzibarian witch doctor _Pundamilia_ and his horde of zombified zebra-beasts?"

Beau chuckled. "My, you always do your research, don't you, Velma?" Velma blushed slightly. "But I believe it's someone a little more…sinister…"


	2. Chapter 2

"I've noticed it mostly in my office," Beau said as he led them down a long hallway lined with dim lamps alternating with dusty portraits of the house's previous owners. Shaggy swore that one's eyes moved, but no one believed him. "I'll look up from my computer and there it is…a living shadow, just like the one from _Shades of Death_, my latest book. It doesn't do anything but stare at me with blank yellow eyes…" he shuddered before continuing. "Those eyes…they stare right at me – no, right _**through**_me, before it just vanishes without a trace."

The gang shared a communal shudder; Shaggy had leaped into Scooby's paws and was shaking like a leaf.

Beau sighed as he reached the end of the hall and pushed open a door to reveal a small office. Red velvet curtains shut out any light from outside; the only light came from a tiffany lamp by Beau's desk. A top-of-the-line computer sat on the desk, its keyboard covered by stacks of paper and other clutter.

"Feel free to search and see what you can find," said Beau, waving the gang inside. "I have nothing to hide."

"Well, gang, then let's split up!" Fred announced. "Velma, why don't you stay here and search Beau's office. Shaggy, you and Scooby go search the downstairs while Daphne and I will head upstairs."  
Beau checked his watch. "And I've got a meeting with my publishers in fifteen," he interjected.

Fred nodded. "We'll meet back here in an hour."

"Like, if nothing's eaten us first," Shaggy countered grimly.

As the rest of the gang vanished into the mansion, Velma was left alone in Beau's office. Steeling herself for the task ahead, she began sifting gingerly through the clutter on the desk. Heavily corrected rough drafts mingled among illegible sticky notes and a calendar covered with chicken scratch.

Soon, though, she found a small newspaper clipping that looked promising:

'Zachary T. Sanchez…The Grim Reader,' she read to herself. 'Beau Neville, a former Louisiana detective, has written his first novel…_The Beast in the Bayou_ is marketed as a supernatural mystery-thriller, but it is none of these things...Detective Cam Clarke is as bland as he is unlikeable... anything meant to be 'scary' is almost laughable...indeed, Mr. Neville wouldn't know fear if it bit him on the behind...'

Meanwhile, Scooby and Shaggy crept through the halls, fearing every floorboard squeak that echoed throughout the empty halls. "Scooby, look!" Shaggy hissed, pointing at a painting of a stern man glaring at them. "His eyes moved. Did you see that?"

Sccoby folded his ears down over his eyes. "Ruh huh," he barked, shaking his head.

Shaggy glared intently at the painting, engaged in a one-sided staring contest with the painted figure. "Like, I know its eyes moved…" he murmured to himself.

"Rhome on, Rhaggy," Scooby wheedled, pulling at his owner's arm. "Rhy smell ritchen!"

That got Shaggy attention. "Kitchen, you say? Lead the way!"

As the dog-and-detective duo strode away from the painting, its eyes moved to watch them go!


	3. Chapter 3

Soon, the ever-hungry Shaggy and Scooby arrived at Beau's kitchen. A pot of gumbo simmered on the stove next to a cooling pecan pie. A bowl piled full of red-hot chili peppers sat on the table, awaiting some unfortunate soul to feel their burn.

"Like, Scoob, it's the mother-lode!" Shaggy gasped happily.

"Ruh huh!" Scooby howled, licking his lips in anticipation.

The duo quickly dug in, eviscerating the pecan pie and most of the gumbo before turning their attention to the chili peppers. "C'mon, Scoob, what do you say?" Scooby eyed them dubiously. "Chicken?" Shaggy taunted.

"Ro rhay!" Scooby barked, taking two peppers from the bowl; Shaggy did the same. "On rhee. Rhone…rhoo…rheee!" The duo stuffed the peppers in their mouths and instantly turned seventeen shades of scarlet!

The dog-and-detective duo scrambled desperately for something to cool down the burn: Shaggy turned his head upside down over the kitchen faucet and allowed the cool liquid to stream down his throat, while Scooby opened the freezer and began shoveling ice cubes into his mouth.

"Well…those were hot…" Shaggy gasped. "Want some more?"

"Reah! Reah!" Scooby barked excitedly, bouncing up and down on his four paws. But as they reached for the peppers, they found they were no longer alone!

A black shape, almost taller than Shaggy, stood in the kitchen. Its yellow eyes glowed sinisterly as stared at the dog-and-detective duo! A noise, much like a howl and a scream combined, emerged from the blackness that made up the creature.

"Like, ZOINKS!" Shaggy screeched, leaping into Scooby's paws. "GAANGWAAY!"

Meanwhile, an empty-handed Fred and Daphne crept down the creaky velvet-covered stairs and headed towards Beau's office. "I guess we'd better see what the rest of the gang found," Fred remarked as they reached the landing.

Suddenly, Scooby and Shaggy raced past them with a shadowy creature chasing after them! "I guess we know what they found…" Daphne remarked.

"Come on! After them!" Fred commanded.

Fred and Daphne dashed after the shadow beast as it ran through hallways with bizarrely interconnected doors. Scooby and Shaggy ran blindly away from the creature, but always managed to find the exact same hallway no matter what path they took.

"It, like, seems we're running around in circles!" Shaggy panted as they ducked through door after door. "And that thing always seems to know where we'll end up!"

Soon, however, the gang all joined up and raced into the relative safety of Beau's office, much to Velma's surprise. "What are you all doing here?" Velma asked.

"Like, shadow monster…" Shaggy panted. "Like, right outside…"

"What?" Velma asked as she strode over to the door and flung it open. "I don't see a…jinkies!"

The shadow monster stepped into the office and surveyed Mystery Incorporated with its sinister glowing eyes. It chuckled darkly (despite not having a mouth) and crept towards the frightened gang.

Thinking quickly, Fred sneaked a look around the room and noticed just what he needed. He nudged Daphne and motioned with his eyes. Instantly, she understood. With a swipe of her lavender heel, she knocked the shadow creature's leg out from under it.

As the creature tumbled to the floor, Fred leaped towards the window. He snatched at curtains and pulled them free of the rod. Velma and Daphne took the curtains and bundled them around the shadow, while Fred tied the curtain ropes around the struggling beast.

"Good thinking, Fred," Velma cheered. "Now let's see who this shadowy beast is!"


	4. Chapter 4

Fred and Daphne pulled the curtains off the creature while Velma snatched at the creature's face. "Beau Neville?!" Mystery Incorporated chorused.

"Just as I thought!" Velma laughed triumphantly.

Beau scowled. "How'd you know?"

"I was a little suspicious when I saw your calendar on your desk. You said you had a meeting with your publisher today, but there was nothing written on today's date."

"Also, when we were being chased by the monster, it always seemed to know where we were," Fred interjected. "Only you would have known all the ins-and-outs of this place well enough to chase us like you did."

"All right, fine," Beau grumbled. "I guess I should've known you meddling kids would figure it out. But I've been hit by a case of massive writer's block lately. I thought if I manufactured a mystery for you to solve, it might help give me some ideas."

"Well, did it?" Fred asked.

Beau nodded. "It'll be out in stores next fall…I'll even send you a free copy."

"We're glad to help," Velma said, almost giddy at having helped her favorite author with his book series.

Beau stood and shrugged off his shadow costume. "Well, all this running around and being scary has made me work up an appetite. Would you like to join me for dinner?"

"Dinner?!" Shaggy exclaimed. "Like, always! We're starved!"

As Mystery Incorporated followed Beau into the kitchen, they were shocked to see that most of the food had already been consumed. "Uh oh…" Beau murmured.

Everyone glared at Shaggy and Scooby, who shrugged. "Like, sorry, man. Getting chased by scary shadow monsters has a way of, like, making you hungry too…"

"Scooby-Rooby-ROO!" Scooby barked in agreement.


End file.
